Bye and thanks for following

THE END

Our new life at home

Its been a few days since we arrived home and its good to be home but its now time to go back on the ship I think. George asked me last night where I wanted to eat....I thought he was being so kind knowing I was having difficulty adjusting to cooking but he then said, "Kitchen or Dining Room". Ah so funny.

It has been nice to have Sorbent Toilet paper as opposed to the 1 ply onboard. To use my own washing machine is a bonus....that wont last.

To see my dog again is good although he was absolutely fine....and I didn't miss picking up dog poop every day.

All in all it has been a wonderful experience. We have been so lucky to have done this, in good health and fit enough to do all the things we did. The friends we have met are life long friends and that is just a bonus we didn't expect. Would we do it again....you bet we are. Hopefully we can do a couple of small cruises and then another World cruise in 2015....if all goes to plan.

We have enjoyed doing the blog.. it was not a chore at all. It will be nice to sit back and go through it one day soon. We hope you all enjoyed following and hopefully it gave you a laugh or two.

So its goodbye from me and goodbye from him.

Day 104 Last day Boo Hoo

Our last day onboard was quite uneventful. It was a mixture of sadness and excitement as we exited our little broom cupboard aka cabin for the last time. We had become very attached to it and it does make you realise how little we need to be happy and content. We were supposed to vacate at 8 a.m. but our lovely steward gave us some extra time. Our disembarkation time was 12. 15 so what was the point in rushing to the Dining Room just to sit around. Eventually we did reach there and found our cosy little group of friends in the back corner. It soon became very small as we said our goodbyes almost every half an hour. Soon it was our turn to put that little card in the machine for the last time....oh no it will be difficult to use a key to open my front door!!

The process of getting our luggage, then to the airport was almost stress free, a bit of a queue here and there but really ok. As you may have read earlier about our visit to Qantas in Auckland....this resulted in a letter allowing us some excess baggage discount. I didn't get my hopes up at this HOWEVER I will say that we were 90 kilos in total and 44 kilos in excess luggage and we paid.......nothing, zilch!! Still not sure how this happened but hey I am not complaining.

Our lovely friends, Jo and Brian invited us into the Qantas Club Lounge, where we sipped on free booze and lovely food for a few hours. This just gave me enough sedation to board the plane in a semi zombie state.....I hate flying. Arriving at Perth, the tunnel you normally walk through was faulty so we had to disembark down stairs, carrying all the luggage, and into THE RAIN. As we climbed the next set of steps, suddenly in front of me was our kids and their partners. Wow it was fantastic to see them again.

Bec had decorated our family room with streamers and welcome home signs, it was lovely.

Day 102and 103 Packing and Packing

Oh dear, I didn't think I had bought much at all but suddenly as I emptied drawers and cupboards, the pile of "stuff " grew. These last 2 days just flew past in a rush of packing and saying goodbye to people we probably won't see again unless we meet on a cruise.

On the last day, the hottest item we had was our $5 luggage scales....it was by appointment only for their use. We estimated we had 86 kilos of check in luggage and 28 kilos of hand baggage.

The last night onboard was a bit of a let down really, there was no fanfare or celebration for the World Cruiser. I remember from our 16 day cruise of Asia on the Sun princess, we had balloons and champagne on the last night. So you would think after 104 days we would have something. Anyway, we had a quiet night and said our farewells to a few friends.

Day 101 Auckland

It was a beautiful sail in to Auckland, well George said it was as I was in bed! My cold/flu is still hanging around and very annoying. Therefore our day consisted of visits to the Post Office (we posted one large bulky dressing gown home, which was quite expensive really), Duty Free shop, which was ridiculously overpriced and the Qantas office.

It was COLD and we wore real clothes, e.g. socks and shoes, jeans and jackets!! We didn't see anything to do with NZ so it is on our "bucket list" A cruise from Sydney to NZ is on the cards. About 320 people disembarked here, many WC, and 352 embarked. Lots of younger people too ...and a few more children.

So this is it...our last stop and now homeward bound.

So now all that is left to do is pack....and say goodbye to many people. However we are very lucky to have met so many new friends,

The seas have become very rough and quite a few loud bangs....either a gigantic whale or a boat. It certainly makes us realise how lucky we have been with the calm seas for most of the journey.

It will be lovely to have some plain, simple and tasty food when we get home. The Horror Zone,aka Horizon Court, has lived up to its reputation and we now walk in and walk out with maybe just a bowl of soup. It never was 5 star food but now its probably minus 1 star. Its not just us feeling this way but most people. The Dining Room has been good though so no complaints there.

Day 100 Sea Day

Just another sea day

Day 99 sea day went to bed last night on Friday 27th August and woke up on Sunday 29th

We went to bed last night on Friday 27th August and woke up on Sunday 29th, no we didn't have a long sleep, We lost a day due to us gaining 23 hours during this trip. We prefer this way as opposed to losing 1 hour. Tonight is the last Captain's Cocktail do and a special dinner is planned but alas we may not be going. I am coughing and sneezing all over the place and don't want to spread my germs to friends at dinner. I am popping pills and potions and will decide at the last minute.

Day 98 at sea and Beatles mania take 2

They came, they saw and boy did they conquer! Last night was party night with The Beatles tribute band, and none of the magic was lost second time around. After the success from last time, not to mention the increase in the bar takings, the clever Princess staff managed to get the band back onboard from Pago Pago till Sydney. The boys are very obliging and stood around for ages to allow us oldies to get photos with them. The lovely cruise staff, namely Brett and Emma also dressed up. The weather was perfect, and this may be the last warm night we have!!

Afterwards we had our hot drink with Roy and Marg, mine is now honey and lemon as this cold takes on a life of its own.

We did a trial pack and we have managed to pack everything into 4 bags, and estimate about 30 kilos excess. Quite happy with that. Therefore Kevin/Leeane we will need 2 cars as we have 4 plus 4 smaller bags!!